“Not yet, but soon.”
“You gotta call me before bed again, okay?” she asked. She always checked to make sure I would call, even though I’d never missed saying goodnight.
I swallowed back the guilt I was feeling. It was the distance, the time away, and the moments I feared I might miss—little growing-up moments I couldn’t be there for. “Of course I’ll call.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” I said, firm.
She relaxed instantly, already shifting the phone as if someone off screen had caught her attention. “Okay. I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you more,” I said. “Be good for Dani.”
She scrunched her nose. “I always am.”
“Night, bug,” I said. “Sweet dreams.”
Just as the call ended, an alert popped up on my screen. It was a message from work, urgent enough to stir the tension back into my shoulders.
Then another alert dinged, this one from Dani.
Dani:For the record,
I negotiated the scoops.
of ice cream down from three.
Me:You’re spoiling her.
Dani:I prefer fostering
her independence.
There it was again, that easy confidence. Like she could lighten a room just by walking in.
Me:Thanks for watchin’ her.
Thegslipped. I noticed it as soon as I hit send. I didn’t usually do that, especially with auto correct. But it seemed that with Dani, myusualno longer existed.
Dani:…did you just
text “watchin”?
Me:No.
Dani:Uh-huh. Is that the
famous Southern drawl
making an appearance even
in text messages?
I could hear the smile in her voice without hearing it at all.
Me:I don’t have a “drawl”.
Dani:You absolutely do.
